Mary Louise Geering and the 1985 Buick Skylark

From Mary Louise Geering: "Here is the scoop on my 1985 Buick: I got it from my Aunt Barbara in 1997 with only 26,000 miles on the odometer. She had bought it new, and it was kept garaged in West Virginia for 12 years. I got it as a cream puff and then drove it in Brooklyn, NY for 19 years, which was quite a change of scenery for this baby. It ran great all those years - getting 28 mpg on the highway - and made countless trips to Boston, Buffalo and New Jersey as well as forays to Kentucky, Mississippi and Omaha. By its 29th year it was looking pretty grubby with lots of rust above and below. 

                 

"So, for its 30th birthday I decided to give it a facelift.

"I painted it sky blue with a 1 and 1/2" brush with my custom mix of Rustoleum. The first coat was a little pale, so I gave it a second coat with a deeper blue. My friend Ted reconstructed the grill and did the Bondo work as the fumes make me sick. We got most of the rust off with naval jelly and then I got to work with my little brush in his yard out on the North Fork of Long Island. I drove it looking pristine for a year and got lots of waves, smiles and requests for photos.

"Then, unfortunately it met its demise as I was corralled in fast-moving traffic over a raised manhole in Soho where they were grading the street. There should have been hazard cones, but honestly the street should have been closed as it was a land mine. I knew the resounding "crack!" was probably fatal, but it still ran like a tank albeit louder. I had planned to drive to Buffalo and decided to have my mechanic to take a look. He found a broken engine mount, cracked oil pan, twisted subframe, mangled exhaust, and cracked bell housing resting on the engine. It was deemed unsafe to drive and too rusty to attempt repairing. Alas, it was the end of an era! I donated it to the Humane Society through an auction house. I also filed a meticulous claim against the city of NY which resulted in a $750 payout, which seemed pretty good to me after all the damage and years and mileage. It had about 190,000 miles. I don't know for sure since the odometer broke at about 110,000 as well as the speedometer. My father was incredulous that I could drive all over with no spedometer, but I told him it was like riding a horse since I've been driving for 42 years."